An Argentine car mechanic named Jorge Odón has used a plastic bag as the centerpiece of a simple device that has the potential to save the lives of women whose babies have gotten stuck in the birth canal during labor. What's incredible is that it's taken this long for doctors to move beyond using often-deadly forceps and suction cups.

With the Odón Device, an attendant slips a plastic bag inside a lubricated plastic sleeve around the head, inflates it to grip the head and pulls the bag until the baby emerges.

Doctors say it has enormous potential to save babies in poor countries, and perhaps to reduce cesarean section births in rich ones.

This reminds me of other simple technologies, like the tree branch water filter and cheap rainwater harvester, that are easy to make and could save many, many lives in impoverished regions. What we really need is a 21st Century toolkit for survival, which includes off-the-shelf items that help us with dangerous but everyday needs, like giving birth and getting clean water.